1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for handling sheets of paper that include a depositing/dispensing unit or port for allowing a customer to deposit sheets of paper into the machine or receive sheets of paper from the machine. Internally, the machine has a counter unit, a sheets of paper handling mechanism, a storage box or cash cassette, an inspecting unit and a transporting unit for transporting the sheets of paper between these units and the depositing/dispensing unit.
The machine is capable of handling two types of paper sheets and has a storage box or cash cassette that can be preloaded, securely locked, and placed in the machine for loading the machine with sheets of paper.
The counter unit of the machine has sensors for detecting the sheets of paper, and a method and apparatus for cleaning the sensors when their output drops from being blotted by dust or other matter.
2. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
An automatic transacting machine is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open No. 61-291370. The disclosed machine has a depositing/dispensing unit or port for the sheets of paper, an inspection unit, a storage box, and a transporting unit for transporting the sheets of paper between these units.
In operation, the disclosed machine handles a dispensing transaction by having the transporting unit put a predetermined number of sheets of paper into a hopper of the inspection unit. Thereafter, the inspection unit counts the sheets of paper to provide a number of sheets that corresponds to the amount of the request being made an operator in the transaction. Then, the sheets of paper are transferred from the inspection unit to the depositing/dispensing unit by the transporting unit. On the other hand, for a depositing transaction, the transporting unit transfers the sheets of paper received from the depositing/dispensing unit to the hopper of the inspection unit whereupon the sheets of paper are inspected and counted. Afterward, the counted sheets of paper are sent to a predetermined position in the storage box by the transporting unit.
The operation of the above disclosed machine in the dispensing transaction is relatively slow, because the sheets of paper must first be removed from the storage box and placed into the hopper of the inspection unit, before they are counted and transferred to the depositing/dispensing unit for delivery to the operator. The step of removing a predetermined number of sheets of paper for each dispensing transaction from the storage box is folloWed by, after the counting step, returning the excess sheets that were not dispensed in the transaction to the storage box. Accordingly, the sheets of paper are removed from and replaced in the storage box for the dispensing transactions.
Within the storage box of the known machine, compartments are provided for storing the sheets of paper to be used in the dispensing transactions, and for storing the sheets of paper that are rejected by the inspection unit. These compartments are fixed and located within the machine in fixed predetermined locations. The size of each compartment must be adequate for storing the sheets of paper to be dispensed, the rejected sheets of paper, and the sheets of paper deposited in a depositing transaction. Accordingly, the objective of minimizing the size of the storage box is constrained by having to provide an adequate size for each of the fixed compartments within the storage box.
As for the machine disclosed above, there is a further problem wherein little consideration has been taken into account for eliminating both the jamming of the counter unit of the machine and for obtaining easy access to the various components of the machine for conducting proper maintenance. For the above machine, it is necessary to use a special tool to correct for any jamming problems that occur within the counter. At times, it is necessary to also open the counter, but this requires opening the transporting unit also. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain easy access to the components of the above-disclosed machine, and to clear the counter when jamming occurs.
In the above-identified machine, sensors are provided for detecting the existence of the sheets of paper at several stacked sections located adjacent the counting unit. The detecting ability of these sensors drops, however, as the result of being blotted by dust or the like. Accordingly, the operation of the sensors becomes faulty or fails and maintenance must be performed to clean the sensors and restore them to proper operation.